THE GEORGE
F. WILL AWARD
F. WILL AWARD
for the advancement
of liberty and the
free society
of liberty and the
free society
2026 Honoree | Niall Ferguson
Sir Niall Ferguson, FRSE, is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard. He is the author of 16 books, including The Pity of War, The House of Rothschild, and Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist, which won the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Prize. He is an award-winning filmmaker, too, having received an international Emmy for his PBS series The Ascent of Money. He is a columnist with The Free Press and The Times of London.
In addition, he is the founder and managing director of Greenmantle, a New York-based advisory firm, a co-founder of the Latin American fintech company Ualá, and a founding trustee of the new University of Austin.
Related Work
Dark Forces of the Twentieth Century
In this special interview featured in Law and Liberty, Niall Ferguson argues that the extreme violence of the twentieth century was driven by a combination of ethnic conflict, economic instability, and the collapse of empires, which together created conditions for war, genocide, and political upheaval.
A Republic—If You Don’t Throw It Away
Marking America’s 250th anniversary, Niall Ferguson reflects on the nation’s resilience and constitutional durability, offering a contrarian perspective on claims of American decline.
2025 Honoree Richard A. Epstein
Richard A. Epstein is the inaugural Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, where he serves as a Director of the Classical Liberal Institute, which he help found in 2013. He has served as the Peter and Kirstin Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution since 2000. Epstein is also the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law Emeritus and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago.
2024 Honoree Gordon Wood
Professor Gordon Wood is the Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University. For his impressive scholarship he has won the Pulitzer Prize, the Bancroft Prize, and the National Humanities Medal.
About the George F. Will Award
The George F. Will Award for the Advancement of Liberty and the Free Society was inspired by Liberty Fund’s founder, Pierre F. Goodrich, and his dedication to enriching our understanding and appreciation of the complex nature of a society of free and responsible individuals.
Named after George F. Will, America’s foremost columnist and a devoted friend of liberty, this award recognizes individuals who, like him, have made significant contributions to our understanding of the free society, individual liberty, and the human condition.